Chapter 296 (1/2)

Whoosh—

A gentle breeze blew by.

Su-hyeun lightly swung the sword as if it was a hand fan, and Waffman, who was watching this scene, couldn’t help but form a puzzled expression.

“…?”

Just what was he trying to do here?

He was acting so mysterious and all, as if he wanted to display something truly immense, yet to take a lame swing like that?

“You dare to fool around in our current situ—?”

Slash—

Slash, slaaash—

Just before Waffman could say something to express his dismay…

He looked down at his own body and discovered numerous thin red lines running across his entire figure.

“Huh?”

Splaaaash—!

Fountains of blood exploded from Waffman. The wounds themselves weren’t all that deep, but there were just too many of them. As a result, a lot of blood flooded out from him.

Waffman suddenly felt dizzy and went down on his knees.

Plop—

Keo-uhrk…

He tried to prop himself up with his hands to prevent himself from collapsing on the ground, but he still ended up kissing the floor with his face.

“My…My arms…”

His arm was torn to rags.

Unlike the rest of his body, only his arm was inflicted with deep injuries. With all the important muscles severed like this, his arm was now no better than a dirty rag.

Both of his arms were in the same state.

Would he be able to wield his sword ever again with these arms?

When that thought filled his head, Waffman’s pain was quickly overtaken by the fear welling up from deep within him.

U-uwaaaah—!

“You asked me to show it to you, didn’t you?”

“I—I’ll kill you!!!”

“It’s what you’ve been telling me only a few seconds ago. Yours is not my life, anyway.”

Clack—

Su-hyeun sheathed his sword and continued to speak, “You’re indeed correct, so do your best to live on with those arms.”

Uwaaaah—!

Waffman’s screams resounded throughout the drill hall.

Su-hyeun no longer paid attention to that. With both of Waffman’s arms in that state, he should not be able to wield a sword ever again.

“Or maybe he’ll start swinging one around with his feet. Who knows?” he thought.

Step—

Su-hyeun began walking away.

A bone-chilling air circulated within the drill hall now. Several members of the crowd, who were previously scared silly by Waffman’s sudden bout of madness, had shifted the target of their fear—from Waffman to Su-hyeun, that is.

Su-hyeun nonchalantly accepted their gazes. He was ready for this eventuality when he decided to leave Waffman in that state.

Of course, that was that, and this would be something else…

“Did you enjoy the proceedings?”

Riiiip—

Su-hyeun walked toward a certain spot and stopped to extend his hand in the empty air. Then, when he moved his hand as if to rip the air itself, that space wavered slightly before a person’s figure was revealed to the world.

It was a person that everyone present could easily recognize.

“Y—your…”

“Your Majesty?”

Wick Bradley.

Indeed, it was none other than this nation’s emperor.

He stood there with his arms crossed and smiled in amusement. He then alternated his gaze between Su-hyeun and Waffman. The latter still hadn’t been able to get a hold of his body and was kneeling on the floor.

“That was an entertaining match,” Bradley said.

“It wasn’t a normal match either.”

“Indeed, his state isn’t very good. Men, hurry and take Waffman to the healers.”

The knights responded quickly to Bradley’s order and helped Waffman out of the drill hall.

Su-hyeun observed Bradley, who was still smiling despite his loyal subject ending up in that state, and decided to ask, “Did you plan for this?”

“Plan for what, exactly?”

“That guy going out of control.”

“Of course not. But thanks to you, the match ended without any further issues, and I’m much relieved by that.”

Any further issues?

Su-hyeun narrowed his eyes into blade-like slits and stared at Bradley. The latter seemed to really think that there had been no issues with this match, judging from how his expression didn’t waver once.

That would be understandable from Su-hyeun’s perspective, but wasn’t Waffman a loyal retainer who served Bradley until he reached that advanced age?

How could he not feel at least a bit concerned about Waffman’s current state?

From what Su-hyeun had observed so far, Bradley didn’t seem like a righteous enough person to simply think that Waffman did something wrong and, thus, needed to be punished.

“And so, everyone’s suspicion has been cleared with this, I hope?”

Bradley looked around at the crowd with an expression that said, “See, I told you so.”

The gathered nobles at first questioned Su-hyeun’s abilities, and then, after Bradley made his declaration, they wanted to defeat Su-hyeun and become the next personal guardian knight of the emperor.

But now, they knew the truth.

They understood now why Bradley suddenly created a position of the “guardian knight,” which didn’t exist until today.

They also knew how much of a talented individual the man named Kim Su-hyeun was.

“In that case, go home, take a bath, and have a good night. Alternatively, you can reflect on your own inadequate strength.”

Bradley sneered at his own retainers and dismissively waved his hand around. He was signaling them to stop complaining and go home.

The gathered crowd began dispersing from the drill hall, and by the time everyone was gone, Su-hyeun turned to look at Bradley and addressed the emperor, “We need to talk for a minute.”

“With me? Why?”

“It’s only for a minute. I know you’re not busy anyway, so make some time for me.”

“Well, I don’t have any problem with that.” Bradley maintained that amused smile as he stepped outside the drill hall. “Follow me. We should move from here first.”

* * *

Bradley led Su-hyeun to the flower garden at the back of the imperial palace.

The garden that boasted of tens of thousands of square meters in size was so complicated that a first-timer could potentially get lost inside it; nonetheless, it was just as beautiful to behold.